Retail Partner Program question

[Jason A.]

@Cory @Randy @brandonnaturally 

I'm pretty sure I remember Cory saying some time back that not every store that applied to the Retail Partner program would be accepted, can anyone else confirm hearing this? I work at a store that just applied today and we are pretty excited about it but I'm not holding my breath. I would love to see aquarium co-op merchandise in our store

Edited October 28, 2022 by Jason A.

[TheSwissAquarist]

  Might be helpful to tag @Cory !😉

[TheSwissAquarist]

Maybe @brandonnaturally and @Randy too ?

[Cory]

Correct, there is a review process. We don’t let anyone sell who we don’t think will be a good fit for our customers. 

[Jason A.]

Thank you for the reply especially at this late hour, if it helps Randy's Fish Palace has been in business for a long time and the current manager and myself are huge fans of Aquarium Co-Op products and if we're not approved that definitely will not change. 😁

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 10/28/2022 at 9:56 AM, Jason A. said:

n business for a long time

Wow! Since 1976.

[TheSwissAquarist]

I recently started working at my LFS, so would you have any tips or suggestions for me, @Jason A.?

[Cory]

On 10/28/2022 at 12:56 AM, Jason A. said:

Thank you for the reply especially at this late hour, if it helps Randy's Fish Palace has been in business for a long time and the current manager and myself are huge fans of Aquarium Co-Op products and if we're not approved that definitely will not change. 😁

I'm not part of the research process. But I do know that name. Cause I was in a meeting with Randy when that came through and he said, Sweet there is a fish store named Randy's fish palace. So I can confirm we at least received it.

[Randy]

@Jason A.

Yup, application received.

I have a response back to the email address provided in the application. 😀

Not only am I named Randy, but I am from Stockton too.  So this seems like a natural fit! lol

[Jason A.]

Wow we're excited. @Randyhow did you get from Stockton to Aquarium Co-Op? Were you interested in Aquariums when you lived in Stockton? 

[Jason A.]

On 10/28/2022 at 1:50 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

I recently started working at my LFS, so would you have any tips or suggestions for me, @Jason A.?

So a lot of what I do is take notes on my phone or take pictures of fish or plants to research later when I have time. A lot of people want to have big mean/hungry fish in small tanks and its important to have plenty of patience and still remain positive when you try to explain that fish A will be eaten by fish B, or the aquarium is to small and perhaps these other fish would be a better fit. And it's always important to ask questions to see if they know the requirements of the fish like tank size, temp, what kind of filter, and what other fish they have or if they want plants then what kind of lights do they have and often it's a standard led which is ok for a lot of plants but also a lot of plants won't flourish so they may need a better light which is a product you could offer to show (still waiting on those new aquarium co-op lights Mr. @Cory lol) the hardest part for me is we get a lot of large cichlids and so many are hybrids so figuring out what is what is hard at times, I use the Google app Lens which helps a lot and Google translate for those who don't speak ANY English... but if there's anything specific you needs some advice about hit me up and I'll do what I can.

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 10/29/2022 at 6:36 AM, Jason A. said:

So a lot of what I do is take notes on my phone or take pictures of fish or plants to research later when I have time. A lot of people want to have big mean/hungry fish in small tanks and its important to have plenty of patience and still remain positive when you try to explain that fish A will be eaten by fish B, or the aquarium is to small and perhaps these other fish would be a better fit. And it's always important to ask questions to see if they know the requirements of the fish like tank size, temp, what kind of filter, and what other fish they have or if they want plants then what kind of lights do they have and often it's a standard led which is ok for a lot of plants but also a lot of plants won't flourish so they may need a better light which is a product you could offer to show (still waiting on those new aquarium co-op lights Mr. @Cory lol) the hardest part for me is we get a lot of large cichlids and so many are hybrids so figuring out what is what is hard at times, I use the Google app Lens which helps a lot and Google translate for those who don't speak ANY English... but if there's anything specific you needs some advice about hit me up and I'll do what I can.

Got it, thank you very much!

[gardenman]

I'm not sure about the Coop but many retail partner programs have rules. Lots and lots of rules. They'll want to be sure you can provide shelf space for their products. They'll want to be sure you have a large enough customer base to make it worth their while to include you. They'll want you to hang banners, signage, etc. in the store, on your windows, or use it in ads. They'll want you to lock into whatever their pricing scheme is. They may want priority placement within the store. They may want competing products removed. They may insist you carry their full range or a certain percentage of their full range of products. They may not want you to sell for them if you're too close to another retail partner. They may insist on a certain amount of return per week/month while in the program. They may insist on certain reorder sizes. There are always rules.

You think it'll be easy to get someone to let you sell their products for them. Eh, no. It's often a fight. 

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 10/29/2022 at 4:31 PM, gardenman said:

I'm not sure about the Coop but many retail partner programs have rules. Lots and lots of rules. They'll want to be sure you can provide shelf space for their products. They'll want to be sure you have a large enough customer base to make it worth their while to include you. They'll want you to hang banners, signage, etc. in the store, on your windows, or use it in ads. They'll want you to lock into whatever their pricing scheme is. They may want priority placement within the store. They may want competing products removed. They may insist you carry their full range or a certain percentage of their full range of products. They may not want you to sell for them if you're too close to another retail partner. They may insist on a certain amount of return per week/month while in the program. They may insist on certain reorder sizes. There are always rules.

You think it'll be easy to get someone to let you sell their products for them. Eh, no. It's often a fight. 

As a LFS employee, I’m trying to get my manager to have a look at the ACO partner program (can’t hurt to have a shot, right?!?) and I don’t think there’s any rules on return per week. We haven’t done the form yet so forgive me if I’m wrong!

@Cory might be able to inform you, or have a look at the ACO website.

[Cory]

I’m not sure I understand “ rules on return per week. Do you mean customers returning product? Or ordering frequency as a store? Neither of those have any specific rules. 

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 10/29/2022 at 6:18 PM, Cory said:

I’m not sure I understand “ rules on return per week. Do you mean customers returning product? Or ordering frequency as a store? Neither of those have any specific rules. 

May I just take this opportunity to ask how shipping to the UK is going? Also what would your answer be to a Swiss store who would like to offer their customers ACO products?

Thanks!!

[Cory]

On 10/29/2022 at 9:36 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

May I just take this opportunity to ask how shipping to the UK is going? Also what would your answer be to a Swiss store who would like to offer their customers ACO products?

Thanks!!

Shipping to the us is currently stalled u til we find a better solution. 
 

as far as a Swiss store. I’d answer I’m not sure. The first question is, how big is the first order? If it was large we would then spend the 2-4 weeks with 3 people building out the process. Accountants would start the permits and such. Then the  logistics team would start figuring out rate quotes and timelines. Then the warehouse team would put in a process to facilitate pickup and packaging for that destination. 

Add in another process on how we’d accept the order, and figure out how to not make that a manual process. Likely requires a second website build. 

In real talk, anything short of like 50k isn’t worth investigating for how much time and energy goes into just getting a real look at how to pull it off wholesaling to another country. 

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 10/29/2022 at 8:11 PM, Cory said:

Shipping to the us is currently stalled u til we find a better solution. 
 

as far as a Swiss store. I’d answer I’m not sure. The first question is, how big is the first order? If it was large we would then spend the 2-4 weeks with 3 people building out the process. Accountants would start the permits and such. Then the  logistics team would start figuring out rate quotes and timelines. Then the warehouse team would put in a process to facilitate pickup and packaging for that destination. 

Add in another process on how we’d accept the order, and figure out how to not make that a manual process. Likely requires a second website build. 

In real talk, anything short of like 50k isn’t worth investigating for how much time and energy goes into just getting a real look at how to pull it off wholesaling to another country. 

Thanks for replying! I’ll ask my manager who’ll talk to his boss etc… and we’ll contact the team by website.

Edited October 29, 2022 by TheSwissAquarist